I'm done taking Natalia in. I'll just have to find all the pieces to pack her. Yay!

The Arshtat alterations are as done as they're going to get. I remade the waist cincher, took a bunch in from the skirt, and took in the brown strappy things... (though not by enough, I think). The red overskirt is still too big, but it's not something I think I can take in without remaking it. I've also repaired some small things, like the yellow loops that hold my scarves were coming a bit loose, there were Nugmarks on my crown...(dumbass cat chewed on them.. had to cut off the damaged pecies and remake them), and I had to remake the section of the crown that warped in the car that one year I wore it to A-kon. One of the brooch pins on the resin piece broke, but I've repaired that as well. That's all pretty much done. The straps on the yellow placard are still a little too long, and I think that's because when I took them in, I didn't account for the waist difference with the waist cincher on. I don't really feel like messing with it anymore, and I may have to just take a bunch of stuff in again if I wear it sometime next year, so I'm done messing with it for now. I will pack some fabri-tac and anything else can be glued or left alone!

Kefka is all repaired. I had a LOT of hand-sewing to do on this one. I still have two little things I never got around to making for the costume, and they still may not happen for Afest or NDK. I'm much more worried about the new costumes!

Hikaru's clothing is done. The sword will be at my house this weekend, giving me under a week to work on it before AFEST interrupts things and I need to worry about getting it in the mail. The armor.. oh god. Everything was going ok until I tried to cast out of my molds. There was some serious problem with the hardener, and it made the resin all crumbly and weird. Dad says I got a bad batch, since the previous batch that was used to make the molds seemed to harden up just fine. Boo! Anyway, the molds were ruined on my first cast. I learned a few things in the process, though, which is good if I ever want to try this technique again.

Things I learned about the fail of my fiberglass casting:

*I used the woven fiberglass fabric for the mold. It would have been much better to use matting here

*My mold was not thick enough. I needed at least two more layers of material

*When casting, one sheet of fiberglass cloth will probably work best for the first layer, if it's a broad form. I made the mistake of cutting the cloth into too many small pieces, and had some serious trouble with it. Part of the trouble was the faulty resin, but I could see that the cloth pieces were too small. It would have been better in one large sheet.

*Vaseline isn't the best thing to use as a mold release. I should look up some of that alcohol stuff that some of the crafters online suggested. Chances are, I can find that at autozone, too

All was not lost, though. Even though the resin was a disaster, I was able to salvage most of the shoulder armor I attempted to cast. There was a little damage on the top, but that was pretty much it. The girls up in CO said that it's something they can use the vaccuform table to cast more of, in plastic. YAY! The chest piece is too large, and was quite damaged, so I'm still not sure what to do about that, but at least the shoulder pieces were usable. I'm still bummed that the back piece turned out crap right out of the gate, but it was a learning experience.

That all being said, I still have a ton of work to do on Hikaru. I'm bidding on some mary janes on ebay & ordered some red kneehigh socks just in case the whole armor thing falls through. In the meantime, I still have to make the bracer, glove, and knee-high boots for the armor version. These are my biggest concerns right now. I will probably start on the canvas bits of Hikaru by the end of the week.

In the meantime, I've been finishing up Arche. I finished the blouse and got the body of the belt constructed. I ordered jewelry& scarf from Sam Moon, since I'm not 100% sure I'll get to go out there when I go up to AnimeFEST. That leave the closure on the belt (which will be like.. hook& eye or snaps or Velcro or something), belt buckle (which will just be plastic glued onto the belt), and the left earring, which I am still totally stumped on. I haven't been able to locate the rest of the Bloodberry stuff, which is a little weird because I know I didn't throw it all away. I have a few more places to look, then I'll have to just assume it got trashed.

It's a lot to do, but I know I can get that stuff done by NDK. The only thing I'm not sure on is whether or not I can finish my Kyoko (Madoka Magica) costume by then. It's not too complicated. The art seems to keep changing, so a lot of it is up to interpretation, but I'm not pleating the skirt. It's going to be a simple circle skirt with an elastic band. I can knock that out pretty fast. The black thing under her top is going to be a sleeveless, strapless bodice. I have a pattern for that. It's a dressy dress type pattern, and it shouldn't be too hard. Not after remaking the Arshtat waist cincher! That was a full-blown corset pattern that got modified!

Anyway, after that, the red top will be pretty tricky, and I'll probably skip out on boot covers. Boot covers would look best, but I just don't think I'll have time. I bought some red suede knee highs off ebay that are totally the wrong color. I have the option of making a cheap boot cover with elastic on the bottom that way I can wear the boots in the fall! I had to take them to a cobbler yesterday to get the calves stretched, though. He made fun of my calves :( There aren't any other cobblers in town, though! Piazza bros closed down a few months ago!

Anyway, I'll worry about Kyoko when I start her. I still have a ton of wig styling to do! I braided Hikaru's extensions, but I haven't cut or styled the short wig, and that will need a lot of POOFING. I bought some gigantic foam rollers, and I have my Got2B and a blowdryer, but I don't have much experience with poofing, so wish me luck.

Anyway, that's the big costume update. With the stress of the bathroom remodel and all these costume projects I've taken on, my weight loss has pretty much stalled. I gained back some weight, and I've lost that weight a few times, but I'm basically up 2-3 lbs from my lightest, so I'll have to re-lose that and a little extra in order to hit my -80lbs benchmark. Not much more to say about that, really.

I can't wait to see you!so, i feel terrible awful, but i just don't think i can make the armor happen. if i had the next week to work on it, i think we'd be fine, but we'll be leaving tomorrow for the funeral... driving, because thats what my parents wanted. so i'll be getting back wednesday night, flying to atlanta on Thursday, and coming home tuesday. with just a little over a week before ndk, and no chance to ship it to you for fitting, i'm just going to say this is not the right time. i'm a sad panda. i hope you aren't too disappointed, i'm so sorry.